


Farscape References

by Beth Harker (Beth_Harker)



Series: Star Trek references [3]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: 90’s sci-fi, Character Study, Characters Arguing, M/M, post squip, you don’t need to know Farscape to read this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:42:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24413797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beth_Harker/pseuds/Beth%20Harker
Summary: Michael’s reaction to a 90’s Sci-fi TV binge prompts Jeremy to question why he doesn’t try harder to fit in with the rest of the Squip Squad.
Relationships: Jeremy Heere/Michael Mell
Series: Star Trek references [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1692367
Comments: 6
Kudos: 45





	Farscape References

Farscape isn’t Jeremy’s favorite. He watched the whole series with Michael during the summer of seventh grade, and it started cool enough, but the quality hadn’t held out to the series finale. That’s important to Jeremy. If he’s going to binge outdated sci-fi, he wants a story that’s going to resonate from beginning to end, not one that’s going to hook him in only to make him want the hours he’s wasted back. 

Michael loves Farscape. He’s spent the last four years extolling its virtues to Jeremy in such detail that Jeremy sometimes wonders whether Michael’s forgotten Jeremy watched it too. One of the main characters is an alien muppet who farts helium, and Michael’s all about that kind of stuff. Another is a plant! Another, a sentient spaceship! It’s all!! Very!! Rad!!

“I like that the aliens have alien biology,” is how Michael explains it, gestures frenetic and open, like the act of telling Jeremy about one of his _things_ might send him over the moon. “They’re not just people with forehead ridges. They’re so different that they can’t even be played by people.” 

“One of the main species is literally humans, but with Australian accents. Y’know, kind of like everybody in Australia, except we’re supposed to believe they’re a distinct species.”

“How do we know they’re not? How many Australians have you met? I’m just saying, Australia could be fake.” 

Jeremy shoots Michael a deadpan look, which just makes Michael laugh and sling his arm around Jeremy’s shoulder. 

“C’mon, the space Australians are part of the charm. So, you _are_ in for a rewatch, right?” 

If Jeremy loved Michael a little less, he’d say no. 

Hell, if Jeremy didn’t basically owe Michael his life and personhood, he’d never put himself through Farscape again. 

But Jeremy does love Michael, and Michael’s been stressed out lately. It’s like, Michael still smiles and makes dumb jokes, but he’s been showing signs of weariness. ~~It’s probably Jeremy’s fault, and therefore Jeremy must either find a way to compensate for his failures or else destroy himself.~~ Farscape, for all its faults, has some great moments. Michael’s company feels good regardless of what’s on TV. 

Thus, Jeremy and Michael begin Farscape binge 2.0— older, wiser, and different than they were the first time around. Back in seventh grade, Jeremy had just been entering into the perpetually ostracized and sweaty teenage phase of his existence. He’d just been starting realize how small and dumb the confines of the little world he and Michael had created were. In retrospect, maybe some of his bitterness towards Farscape had been about the ‘found family’ trope that was rife throughout the series. Why had he been expected to care about all of the cool extraterrestrial friends some dumb astronaut got after he found himself stranded on the other side of the universe? Seventh grade Jeremy got Michael and Michael only, with little hope of that ever changing. 

It’s better this time. Jeremy’s more into NASA than he was as a tween, so the parts about that are legit interesting. He also talks to more than one person, so he can relate to the whole having a social circle thing. 

Ironically, Michael’s the one who is weirded out, so much so that he pauses the show part way through the second episode. 

“Don’t you think they’re all getting along too well too quickly?” he asks. 

Jeremy shrugs. “Guess the plot moves better when the characters aren’t all glaring at each other and not talking,” he says. That’s something Michael would know about, not that he _glares_ at the Squip Squad precisely, except for sometimes Rich, Jake, and Chloe. He’s just avoidant. It’s like he could connect, but he doesn’t even want to try. 

“Zhaan painted a whole ass portrait for Rygel! She doesn’t know Rygel from frell.” 

( _Frell_ means _fuck_ in Farscape language. Michael said it a lot in middle school and garnered more than a few weird looks for it. Jeremy’s not exactly surprised that it took all of two episodes to get Michael back on his old bullshit. At least it’s kinda endearing bullshit.) 

“Sometimes people make friendly gestures when they want to make friends,” Jeremy says. “Give it a try.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Never mind. That wasn’t fair. You’re... um... not a painter.” The last words are strategic, because Jeremy _had been_ one hundred percent implying that Michael hasn’t been making the right kind of effort with their new friends, but he’s also aware that that’s a dickish thing to say when he knows Michael has social anxiety, so going back on it is imperative. Besides, Michael has made a lot of friendly gestures towards Christine, and hasn’t been deliberately unfriendly to anybody else. He gets weird because he’s uncomfortable. Jeremy knows that, but he also knows that Michael has no good reason to be uncomfortable. It’s not like Rich is going to sucker punch him and Chloe’s going to whine about his loser face breathing the same air as her. They’re totally past all that now.

They go back to watching the show, until they reach the point where one of the characters, who used to be part of a military group that tortured one of the other characters, is in mortal danger. 

“For what it’s worth,” says D’Argo, the tentacle headed alien on the screen, “My desire to for Aeryn to live is greater than my desire to see all Peace Keepers die.” 

Michael pauses the show once more. “There it is again! Why doesn’t he want her to die? Later in the series, sure, but at this point she’s just another Peace Keeper!” 

“Yeah, but she could’ve betrayed him during the first episode, and didn’t.”

“Not enough.” 

“Then what is?” The words come our sharp. Michael misses it entirely. 

“They’d have to give it a season. She’d need to save his life a few times, and...”

“Just to reach the point where he doesn’t want her dead? That’s a pretty low bar.” 

“They have a lot of history!” 

“Is that why you’re so... so _stand-offish_ with basically everybody?” 

Jeremy is an idiot. He knows that, because it takes all of the happiness on Michael’s face being replaced with confusion for him to realize that up until now Michael had been enjoying himself. Michael likes debating sci-fi stuff. That’s the conversation he must’ve thought they were having, while all the while Jeremy was making it into another conversation entirely. 

“...wait, what?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s watch the show.” 

Michael shakes his head. 

Jeremy rubs his hands on his jeans. “I guess I wanna know when you’re going to start acting normal,” he says. Immediately, he puts his hands up to stop Michael from responding, because he’s choosing his words badly, and needs to explain. “I don’t mean normal as in _normal_. I mean normal as in your normal. The way you are with me, but with the others.”

Michael shrugs. 

“Look,” says Jeremy, “sorry I brought it up.”

Michael sighs. “You all went through an... experience... or whatever with the Squips. Honestly, I don’t know what kind of mind control sorcery those things pulled, because even Jake is cool with Rich after he burned down his house, and that’s just not how anything should work. It doesn’t matter. I try to respect that you imprinted on each other like insane cyber ducklings, but I didn’t. You’ve gotta respect that I didn’t, man.” 

“I just think it’d be good for you,” Jeremy says. “Not the... duckling? Thing? But I don’t want to be a part of any group that you’re not in.”

“Maybe. But it’s gonna take time. I’m not there yet.” 

“Will you at least try?”

Michael nods. He doesn’t look happy about it, but he nods anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Dear reader, I’m rewatching Farscape. 
> 
> Anyway, if you liked my weird niche fic that is not likely to get a lot of readers, reviews are especially appreciated.


End file.
